Kurt Busch won his second Cup race at Martinsville Speedway and for the first time since October 2011, when he drove for Team Penske. / Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Kurt Busch outdueled Jimmie Johnson for the win at Martinsville Speedway, taking the lead from the six-time champion twice in the final 27 laps Sunday.

After moving into first on Lap 473 of 500, Busch relinquished the lead to Johnson 10 laps later. But the Stewart-Haas Racing driver battled back to retake first over Johnson on Lap 490, and Busch led the final 11 circuits for his second victory at Martinsville and first since October 2011 at Dover International Speedway.

"I didn't know if we'd be able to do it, (Johnson) is king here," Busch said after his 25th victory in NASCAR's premier series and his second at Martinsville (where he won in October 2002). "This is an unbelievable feeling."

It was an impressive comeback for Busch, whose No. 41 Chevrolet was damaged early in the race in a skirmish with Brad Keselowski. Busch proclaimed on the team radio that he was "done" after the incident.

"We won, and we're not worried about any of that nonsense now," he said after the race.

Johnson, who led a race-high 296 laps, finished 0.263 seconds behind in second, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose.

"Man that's all I had," Johnson said. "That's all I could do."

"I wish we could have gotten the win for (team owner) Rick's (Hendrick's) 30th anniversary here, but we just came up a little short."

Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard rounded out the top 10 in a race that saw a record 33 lead changes. The previous mark of 31 was set in April 2011.

Johnson lost the lead to Bowyer with 50 laps remaining, but a caution flag on Lap 458 for a spin by Carl Edwards bunched up the field for pit stops.

Johnson reclaimed first under yellow while Bowyer's crew had trouble with the right-rear tire on his No. 15 Toyota. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver fell from first to 10th and finished ninth.

Former Team Penske teammates Keselowski and Busch were embroiled in the race's biggest row after a collision in the pits on lap 43. During a NASCAR-mandated caution, Keselowski's Ford made contact with Kasey Kahne, who was pulling his No. 5 Chevrolet into his stall. As Keselowski stopped, Busch's No. 41 Chevrolet rumbled by on the outside, ripping off much of the front nose of the No. 2 Ford.

"I started to check up and I just barely got in the back of (Kahne), and Kurt just accelerated and drove through us, absolutely drove through us," Keselowski said. "I tell you what, I'm about tired of his recklessness. Kurt tore the whole suspension off the car, so it won't turn. It won't do anything.

"Thanks, Kurt. Appreciate it, bud."

Returning to the track 31 laps down, the 2012 series champion wasted little time showing his displeasure. After firing a one-finger salute out his window for a lap while running just ahead of Busch's car, Keselowski slowed down to ram his rival in the right-side door.

Busch didn't spin but had choice words for Keselowski on his team radio.

"What a good kid," he sarcastically said. "Guess we get to get in a fight afterwards, because I'm going to go (expletive) that dude's (expletive) face up."

Interviewed by The Associated Press before the season-opening IndyCar race at St. Petersburg, Fla., team owner Roger Penske said he thought Busch "could have backed up" and said the incident stemmed from a wreck the drivers were involved in last season at Kentucky Speedway.

"Obviously Brad is uptight, and Kurt would have been uptight, too," Penske told The AP. "I think these guys will finish the race and move on. On short tracks these guys got to race each other, day after day, week after week, and at the end of the day we should just move on. That's what I've told our guys.

"I think it's just unfortunate that these things happen. Kurt doesn't wreck a lot of people and unfortunately he's gotten into us twice. At the end of the day, we're just going to move forward."

A day full of promise for Joe Gibbs Racing didn't end so well. Denny Hamlin, who had vowed to win after missing the race at Auto Club Speedway with an eye injury, had mechanical problems in his No. 11 and finished 19th. Pole-sitter Kyle Busch led the first 16 laps but settled for 14th. Kenseth also led but was burned by a gamble to stay out on older tires near the midpoint.

Jamie McMurray was slightly miffed at Earnhardt for a lap 200 crash. McMurray's No. 1 Chevrolet spun into a heavy impact with the turn 2 wall after a bump with Earnhardt's No. 88 while battling for position.

"I thought (Earnhardt) would be a little more patient as I tried to get through," said McMurray, who needed more than 100 laps for repairs. "It's hard to understand how slick it is. The tires are on edge after 15 to 20 laps. He barely got into me, and you hope when that happens, they get off you, and he didn't."

On his team radio, Earnhardt said, "I don't think I did anything wrong. He knew was there, just rolling in there."

Danica Patrick, who qualified a season-best 10th, also struggled. After finishing on the lead lap twice last season at Martinsville, she finished two laps down in 32nd Sunday.

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